Your voice matters. We have until August 11th to speak up.
One of the most important nesting sites for the endangered Piping Plover in Ontario is Wasaga Beach, on the shores of Georgian Bay. The critical natural beach habitat at Wasaga has produced half of the province’s Piping Plover fledglings since 2007. It is also one of the top tourist destinations in the province, welcoming an increasing number of visitors each year, recently exceeding 2 million people annually.
Birds Canada has been leading conservation efforts across Piping Plover nesting sites in Ontario since 2018, striving for a shared vision of healthy beaches for people and wildlife. At Wasaga Beach, we work closely with Ontario Parks to ensure habitat and nests are protected, and to engage the local community through volunteer programs and events like Ploverpalooza.
Wasaga Beach is a conservation and tourism success story, and one we want to see continue.
Piping Plovers. Photo: Mark Peck
What’s the issue?
The Government of Ontario is proposing to transfer the land at Wasaga Beach – where Piping Plovers nest – from Ontario Parks to the Town of Wasaga Beach.
Birds Canada is concerned that the proposed land transfer will put Ontario’s Endangered Piping Plovers at even higher risk.
Piping Plover habitat in Wasaga Beach is protected and managed through regulations that apply within the provincial park boundaries. If these boundaries shift as the proposal outlines, the recent weakening of habitat protections under the Ontario Endangered Species Act with the passing of Bill 5 means this important Piping Plover habitat will be left with no provincial protection. Additionally, federal legislation doesn’t protect Piping Plover habitat in Ontario unless it’s on federal land.
You read that right: no legal protection for this essential habitat that Piping Plover rely on. If the proposed transfer does happen, it will fall to the Town to decide whether to protect Piping Plover habitat.
Why does this habitat matter so much?
Piping Plovers returned to breed on the shores of Ontario’s Great Lakes in 2007 after a 30-year absence, thanks largely to major conservation efforts in the United States. It was a celebratory moment– a sign that this struggling endangered species was starting to recover.
Habitats like the ones Piping Plovers nest at in Wasaga Beach are increasingly rare. Piping Plovers make their homes on wide sandy beaches with a mix of vegetation, pebbles, driftwood and dunes.
Piping Plover chick. Photo: Mark Peck
When these natural beaches are mismanaged, it leaves Piping Plovers without a place to raise their young, and can take decades and millions of dollars to properly restore.
Under the management and protection of Ontario Parks, Wasaga Beach has hosted 57 nests and successfully raised 87 fledglings. It is the most productive and valuable nesting habitat in the province, and one of few accessible and reliable sites for visitors to see Piping Plovers in Ontario. Beach goers have an opportunity to see an endangered bird, and birding tourists travel from far and wide to experience the joy of adding Piping Plovers to their “life-list”, and watching them raise their young on the beach.
What does the future hold?
Piping Plovers and tourism have co-existed at Wasaga Beach Provincial Park for 18 years. With the support of stewardship programs, millions of visitors enjoy the beach every year while Piping Plovers are raising their young.
This has been a true conservation success story that doesn’t have to end now.
Birds Canada is committed to continued conservation efforts for Piping Plover at Wasaga Beach. If the land transfer goes through, the responsibility falls to the Town of Wasaga Beach to ensure this success story continues. In a meeting Birds Canada had with the Town, town officials indicated they want to see both plovers and people thrive and see themselves as environmental leaders – but Birds Canada knows from experience that Piping Plover conservation is no small feat and support from the Province will be needed.
Piping Plovers must be meaningfully integrated into the beach management plan at Wasaga Beach. Currently, the only condition proposed in the land transfer is that the beach remains public. If the transfer goes ahead, we ask the Province to include conditions or commitments that help support Piping Plover conservation and habitat protection.
Take action now
Let the Ontario government know that you are concerned about the protection and management of important Piping Plover habitat at Wasaga Beach. We have the opportunity to influence change, with comments open until August 11th. Your voice matters!
When leaving a comment, Birds Canada suggests you express in your own words that you are concerned about the future of Piping Plovers at Wasaga beach and want an outcome that continues to conserve the plovers.
Consider including the points below and adding your own thoughts and opinions.
The Ontario Government must ensure that Piping Plovers are conserved and protected by a science-based management plan and resources that:
- Reduces threats to Piping Plover and their habitat year-round by restricting mechanical raking so that the habitat is not destroyed, prohibiting dune alteration, and protecting nests with fenced buffer zones and natural predator mitigations.
- Commits funding to protect, conserve, and steward Piping Plovers, their nests, and their habitats.
- Engages experts like Birds Canada at development and implementation phases.
Birds Canada is a national charitable organization dedicated to bird conservation. We have been leading the Ontario Piping Plover Conservation Program since 2018, collaborating with partners at each nesting beach. As program leads, we ensure that on-the-ground conservation and monitoring efforts follow scientific guidelines that are in use across Great Lakes nesting beaches. Additionally, we support volunteer programs and outreach and engagement at Piping Plover beaches.
For questions or inquiries please contact: ontarioplovers@birdscanada.org